Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Contrary \Con"tra*ry\, n.; pl. {Contraries}.
   1. A thing that is of contrary or opposite qualities.

            No contraries hold more antipathy Than I and such a
            knave.                                --Shak.

   2. An opponent; an enemy. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   3. the opposite; a proposition, fact, or condition
      incompatible with another; as, slender proofs which rather
      show the contrary. See {Converse}, n., 1. --Locke.

   4. (Logic) See {Contraries}.

   {On the contrary}, in opposition; on the other hand. --Swift.

   {To the contrary}, to an opposite purpose or intent; on the
      other side. ``They did it, not for want of instruction to
      the contrary.'' --Bp. Stillingfleet.

Source : WordNet®

on the contrary
     adv : contrary to expectations; "he didn't stay home; on the
           contrary, he went out with his friends" [syn: {contrarily},
            {to the contrary}, {contrariwise}]